What's the best bike if I want to carry a passenger (in Manhattan)?

[jclin10]

Hi all

What's the best bike if I want to carry a passenger (in Manhattan)?

Thanks!

[ericwn]

How old is the passenger?

[Eric7]

Manhattan is unique. 

I've lived there and driven there, driven bicycles there, and rollerbladed on the streets. Things get banged up. There are robbers targeting bike riders on the Williamsburg bridge at night. They wait for the delivery guys to come home with their day's earnings. Riding on the sidewalk is illegal.  Delivery guys get stabbed resting in the park and have their bikes stolen by force. Be careful.  You live there I presume and I guess you know too.  I have people pry open my car trunk while I am at a bookstore (The Strand).

I would get fat tires because you don't want them to slip into a storm drain grate between slats or when a slat is missing and any other hazards. 4 inch wide is good.  Loud tires, so jay walkers know you are coming is good. 

I just don't know.  Please stay safe. 

[jclin10]

I've lived here for 20 years, so appreciate some of the concerns. It would mostly be to take my kids to school or baseball practice on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side or in Central Park.

[Eric7]

I think the Rad Runner is good because it is compact and strong.  Space on the road is tight in Manhattan.  I would add a wall mount at home to store the bike vertically.  In the elevators, I have to stand up my bike sometimes to fit so I think a longer bike like a Rad Wagon (or a cargo bike from another manufacturer) may be too much work. Sometimes you have to get on strange elevators to visit friends. Smaller bikes will probably pass the doorman test better unless you live in the building. Ideally, your building would have a cargo elevator so you might have to use that.

[Radio Runner]

Never living in NY but as an experienced rider in cities I would look at the Rad Runner. Better turn radius for a tight city. Also lighter than the Rad Wagon for moving around in buildings or hefting a quick 180 on the sidewalk instead of rolling a huge long wheel base in a 1/2 circle.

[Eric7]

Never living in NY but as an experienced rider in cities I would look at the Rad Runner. Better turn radius for a tight city. Also lighter than the Rad Wagon for moving around in buildings or hefting a quick 180 on the sidewalk instead of rolling a huge long wheel base in a 1/2 circle.

Good points.  I've not thought of it but you are right.

[jclin10]

What is the real world capacity of a rad runner? The website says 300 pounds and 350 pounds for the rad wagon, but they look very similar to me

[JimInPT]

What is the real world capacity of a rad runner? The website says 300 pounds and 350 pounds for the rad wagon, but they look very similar to me

The Runner and the Wagon are quite different structurally, with different frames, wheel sizes and tires (in fact, IIRC the Wagon's tires are pretty unique and hard/impossible to find elsewhere - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong here).  The Runner is rated for a slightly-higher load capacity than the Expand/Mini frames due to that horizontal member the optional bucket bolts to - that stiffens the center of the frame against bending.  I'm sure there's a safety factor built into the quoted figures allowing higher loads, but the engineers who designed and tested these bikes didn't just pull those figures out of the air.

The recovering mechanical engineer in me says those are numbers that Rad's warranty and product-liability-lawyer departments are ok standing behind for all-day usage without getting sued or losing money on warranty claims - I bet you could go 25-30 lbs over them easily as long as you didn't abuse the bike and avoid potholes.

Since they carry squishy people, engineers are required to design far beyond the ratings marked on the product before they fail (things like elevators and lifting cranes are 4x - 10x, going from memory; I never worked on products like that), so I'm guessing that you could put at least 400 lbs on either one and not break the frame unless you drove off a curb or something as long as the tires and other components are in good condition.   I'd be more concerned about snapping spokes or bending wheel rims.

Just remember you could buy an entire second e-bike to carry more people for far less money than a single trip to the emergency room.   

I do agree with the points made earlier that the Wagon's longer wheelbase would be more of a handful for making tight turns, but I consider it's intended to be the suburban minivan of e-bikes, not the commuter or trail-buster. 

[Eric7]

I would go with the manufacturer's recommendations but also drive carefully because at the weight capacity the bike is fragile.

When I was a boy, at 120 pounds, I ruined 2 non electric bicycle frames. (1) I ran into a parked car at about 12 mph (I was a kid) - bent the frame but the fork was OK.  (2) I ran into a deep pothole 6 inches deep, bent the fork coming out of the pothole.

What I mean to say is even if the manufacturer/lawyer say is OK, running into potholes will ruin a bike - even if you are light weight.  As I recall, there are many hazards in Manhattan.  If you are heavy (rider and passenger) it will be even easier.  I assume you are smart enough not to run into a parked car like I did. 

Just being under 300 pounds will not get you out of trouble.  If I were loaded up to 300 pounds, I would drive carefully and avoid too many bumps.